Was thinking about the current tax system, and I'm beginning to think that federal taxes need to be eliminated completely. Federal funding should be a flat rate taken from the states tax revenue. States are free to set their own tax rates, but they are 100% responsible for funding themselves.

Federal responsibilities are cut to the absolute minimum. I haven't come anywhere close to figuring out what that minimum is yet, but for starters:

National Defense, CIA, standard weights, measurements, and currency, the CDC, FEMA, and possibly the FAA and FDA.

I wanted to throw in National Parks, but I think they should be state funded, and they'll get additional funding from tourism if they are worth visiting.

By allowing the states to set their own tax rates/policies we have 50 separate playgrounds to try out new and better tax policies. If people don't like what their state is doing, they'll move to another state. This will force states to compete to be the most efficient with our tax dollars.

Federal politicians don't even need to be in Washington anymore. With the internet and modern telecommunications I feel politicians should live in the states they represent and be near their constituents. With the new VERY limited role of the federal government, state politicians will actually be more powerful and important than their federal counterparts.

For disputes between states, the Federal Supreme Court (which now has much more time on their hands) will act as a sort of small claims court to resolve issues between states.

With states competing for efficient tax codes and trying to be conservative in spending while offering the most services, everyone wins. Kansas figures out a way to save in federal taxes (they pay the same % of their tax revenue to the federal gov as California does under my plan) by instituting contractor run toll roads? Bully for them. Thats progressive thinking. If people feel that Kansas's toll roads are inconvenient, they'll move to Missouri.

Special interest groups can still corrupt all they want to, but they'll be doing it at the state level. Citizens will be able to watch their politicians at a closer level and will have a much bigger stake in their votes.

We still need a federal government, but it should act as more of a savings account for emergencies, like FEMA. They have almost zero role in our day to day lives.

Hyper conservatives and hyper liberals can band together in their own states and rule as they see fit until they fail and realize that it takes a bit of each to survive (or not, but we'll find out with 50 competitive markets with free movement of citizens between them.)